are video games christian? A christian is a person not a thing. Does video games go with the christian lifestyle? Yes, but to a degree which depends on the type of game and amount which game is played vs. productive lifestyle and the influence it has on a person as a believer. Are video games beneficial besides just leasure?.........some are and some can be, depending.
Gamer uses virtual training to save lives
Player of America's Army used in-games techniques in a rescue situation.
By
Ben Silverman
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Think playing video games is little more than a great way to waste time? Then you haven't met Paxton Galvanek. Last November, the twenty-eight year-old helped rescue two victims from an overturned SUV on the shoulder of a North Carolina interstate. As the first one on the scene, Galvanek safely removed both individuals from the smoking vehicle and properly assessed and treated their wounds, which included bruises, scrapes, head trauma and the loss of two fingers.
His medical background? None - other than what he's learned playing as a medic in the computer game America's Army.
The first-person shooter is developed and distributed by the U.S. Army. Though part of its mission is to promote its military namesake, America's Army is a fully-featured game that takes players through a virtual representation of real-life soldiering, from basic training to the field of battle. To play as a medic class, players must sit through extensive medical training tutorials based on real-life classes.
Lucky for the two survivors that Paxton Galvanek didn't zone out during the training, as the gamer credits this experience with teaching him how to handle himself in an emergency situation.
"In the case of this accident, I evaluated the situation and placed priority on the driver of the car who had missing fingers," he said. "I then recalled that in section two of the medic training, I learned about controlled bleeding. I noticed that the wounded man had severe bleeding that he could not control. I used a towel as a dressing and asked the man to hold the towel on his wound and to raise his hand above his head to lessen the blood flow which allowed me to evaluate his other injuries which included a cut on his head."
By the time help arrived in the form of -- ironically enough -- an Army soldier, the individuals were in stable condition and awaiting the paramedics.
Galvanek's decisions were lauded by game project director Colonel Casey Wardynski. "Because of the training he received in America's Army's virtual classroom, Mr. Galvanek had mastered the basics of first aid and had the confidence to take appropriate action when others might do nothing. He took the initiative to assess the situation, prioritize actions and apply the correct procedures... Paxton is a true hero."
According to the developers of America's Army, this is the second time one of their users has reportedly applied techniques learned in the game to real-life emergency situations. You can find more information about the game at
www.americasarmy.com.
Surgeons Hone Skills on Nintendo Wii
Posted by Jacob Goldstein
Dont worry about that guy about to operate on your gallbladder. He trained on the Wii.
According to a very small, very preliminary study, playing certain video games on the
Nintendo Wii helps surgical residents to hone their fine motor skills and improve their performance on a serious surgery simulator.
OK, so a simple video game helps these docs with a slightly more complicated one. But bear with us here because the more sophisticated simulator is the sort of thing thats used right now to help doctors do a better job on keyhole surgery using tiny instruments outfitted with video cameras.
Improvements in simulator performance didnt come from just any Wii (see image), or any game.
Marble Mania is good, for example. Tennis (astonishingly fun to play on the Wii, which uses a motion-sensitive wireless control) isnt so helpful. The key is to have subtle hand movements,
Kanav Kahol one of the authors of the study, told the Health Blog. You cant hit a tennis swing and expect to become a better surgeon. You need fine motor control.
Kahol, a biomedical informatics expert affiliated with Arizona State and a hospital chain called Banner Health, worked with Marshall Smith, a Banner surgeon, to see if playing the Wii (Wii-ing?) improved residents scores on a standard simulator for minimally invasive, or laparoscopic, surgery.
So they bought a standard golf-club add on for the Wii (It was like 10 bucks, Kahol said) then cut off most of the golf club and added a laparoscopic probe (their creation is shown in the picture, above).
Out of a group of 16 residents, eight were assigned to play the Wii (Marble Mania and a suite of games called
Wii Play), with the specially-rigged controller. The other eight didnt get to play. Then all 16 did a simulated laparoscopic procedure (something having to do with a simulated gallbladder).
The ones who had played the Wii showed 48% more improvement on the procedure than those who hadnt, according to a standard score that measures performance on the simulation, Kahol said. They plan to present the results at the
Medicine Meets Virtual Reality conference in a couple weeks.
Next, Kahol and Smith plan to develop a full-blown surgery simulator for the Wii. Among other things, it would allow residents, forced by work-hour caps to spend more time outside the hospital, to practice surgery while theyre at home.
In the meantime at Smiths hospital theres a Wii in the room where residents take cat naps while theyre on call. We asked if the residents get competitive about the Wii. Theyre surgery residents, what do you expect? Smith said.
Photo courtesy of Banner Health
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